A landmark tournament

The World Poker Tour (WPT) and Wynn Las Vegas have teamed up to bring the largest ever guaranteed prize pool to a single live poker event. According to a Monday announcement, the competition will offer a $15m prize. It will form part of a multi-tournament festival called the WPT World Championship that will take place December 1-20 in 2022.

a $10,400 buy-in

The Main Event will require a $10,400 buy-in. In all, over a dozen tournaments are due to take place over the period. Around 200 online qualifiers will take part in the WPT World Championship, with others able to earn their qualification through live satellite events and ClubWPT qualification tournaments.

It appears that the World Championship will have the biggest field for any tournament with a buy-in of at least $10,000, excluding the World Series of Poker (WSOP). If all goes to plan, at least 1,500 entrants will take part, with multiple players becoming millionaires over the course of the event.

An ambitious plan

The WPT World Championship will serve as the landmark tournament of the WPT Season 20.

In Monday’s statement, WPT CEO Adam Pliska expressed excitement over partnering with Wynn Las Vegas, commenting: “This is one of the most ambitious initiatives the World Poker Tour has undertaken in our 20-year history.”

a festival that will be a one-of-a-kind”

Wynn Las Vegas executive director of poker operations Ryan Beauregard believes that the upcoming tournament series aligns with the property’s commitment to offering top-quality service to poker players. He said: “We have created a festival that will be a one-of-a-kind, must-attend event for both our current and new players.”

Big money up for grabs

December’s event will feature three main tournaments, including the World Championship, the Wynn Mystery Bounty, and the Prime Championship. As well as the $15m guaranteed prize pool for the WPT World Championship, the two other main events will both carry guaranteed prize pools of $2m.